Half of our waking days spent consuming media
Britons are spending almost half of their waking hours watching TV, using their smartphones and other communications devices, according to Ofcom.
The media watchdog's annual Communications Report into the UK's TV, radio, telecoms and internet industries found the average person spends 45% of their time awake absorbing media or communicating using technology.
They are sending four times as many texts a day than they did in 2004 and almost a quarter of their time is spent online and on social networking sites.
And Brits are becoming savvy multi-taskers, cramming eight hours and 48 minutes' worth of media into just over seven hours a day.
This juggling comes even more naturally to younger people who squeeze close to five hours of media usage into just under two hours a day.
While consumers are making the most of their gadgets the report said traditional TV and radio remain a draw. The average person watches TV for three hours and 45 minutes a day with evening programmes in particular maintaining their popularity.
TV has been boosted by the emergance of digital video recorders - now in 37% of households - and the growing popularity of high definition television. Nearly a quarter of respondents (22%) said they had bought an HD-ready TV set in recent years.
Ofcom's Peter Phillips said: "For the first time we can see just how central media and communications are to our lives.
"Younger people have shown the biggest changes in how we use media - particularly using different media at the same time.
"But the divide between younger and older people's use of technology is starting to narrow as more older people are getting online and finding that things like email are very important to them.
"Consumers are using communications services more - phone calls, texting and the internet. Yet they are paying less despite getting more, partly through buying in bundles."